


home sweet home

by blushings



Series: exo drabbles [4]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Christmas Tree, Gen, Light Angst, the only one happy to be in seoul is toben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 16:59:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17104562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blushings/pseuds/blushings
Summary: There's no place like home.





	home sweet home

Multiple curses fell from both men’s lips as they all but carefully carried the fresh Christmas tree into their house. Yixing held the tip of the tree, pulling it in as Chanyeol held onto the freshly cut end and the younger steered the tree into the designated corner. Not so gracefully, Chanyeol moved toward the stand to place the bristly mess onto the spike. When he successfully did so, the two slowly backed away from the still-tied-up-tree to marvel at the work of actually getting a real tree this year. Chanyeol looked down at the tarp him and Yixing laid out beforehand. It was delicately covered in bristles that fell in the process of them setting up the tree and with a few droplets from melted snow.

With a sigh of relief, he wrapped his left arm around Yixing and pulled him close to his side. Chanyeol looked down at his boyfriend’s face, who was wearing a small smile for their accomplishment. Chanyeol’s fingers went straight to Yixing’s cheeks, pinching them. Instead of pulling away from his hand, Yixing moved to intertwine their fingers and brought Chanyeol closer to him, pecking his cheek. The younger giggled, moving behind Yixing to hug him and to admire the wrapped up fir tree.

“We should cut the ties,” Chanyeol suggested.

“No, we could untie them and use the rope for when Christmas is over.” In his peripheral vision, Yixing saw Chanyeol nod before the two shed themselves of their thick winter coats and hang them on their dining room chairs. They then started carefully untying the ropes on the tree and unwrapping it. Both men cursed as they were repeatedly hit in the face and on their heads by branches and bristles as the tree expanded to its full size.

When they took a step back to admire the tree again, there were bristles _everywhere_. Chanyeol sighed; he hoped to not make a mess, but alas. Then he heard Yixing mumble something to himself and run to the hall closet.

Oh yeah.

The decorations.

Chanyeol watched as Yixing walked in carrying a box full of ornaments and other items his mother sent over for the holidays. The box was situated on the coffee table before Yixing carefully pulled out a baggy full of tinsel, boxes of individual ornaments, tree lights, and other random decorations. Eyeing the tinsel, Chanyeol sighed and ran fingers through his hair.

“Something wrong?” Yixing asked, glancing up at his lover as he sorted through the items.

“Nah, it's just…” Chanyeol paused, turning to glance at the tree they just brought in. He didn't want to be rude. His lover appeared on his left side, wrapping his arm around Chanyeol’s waist. “I really fucking hate tinsel.”

Yixing chuckled lightly. “Any particular reason why?”

“It's so messy. It clogs up the vacuum and when we bring back Toben, he might try to eat it… It’s also too much work.”

“Hmm, true… We could just leave it in the box.” A wave of relief ran through Chanyeol.

“Really?” He asked, just to make sure.

“Yeah, we don’t need our baby getting hurt during this time of the year because of tinsel. We can go without it,” Yixing said, moving from his boyfriend to toss the cursed decoration back into the box.

To help them enter the Christmas spirit, Chanyeol put on a Spotify playlist of classical holiday music. The first one to play was from the Nutcracker and just as the tune had begun, Chanyeol heard Yixing humming along as continued rummaging through the box as he untangled the lights to wrap it around the tree.

While Yixing situated the lights, Chanyeol gathered the other decorations and placed them around the living room. There wasn’t much since their old apartment was too small to have many decorations around.

Chanyeol and Yixing finished around the same time and were able to unbox the ornaments. They had simple ones, mostly. They discussed that they could buy more intricate trinkets once they had money. Maybe they would make their own if they were to have time.

In no time, the tree was done. Chanyeol swept up the fallen bristles and Yixing picked up the tarp, folding it to store it in the hall closet until the end of the season. Chanyeol took the empty ornament boxes, storing them with the folded tarp. 

Everything was set.

\--

Chanyeol and Yixing didn’t discuss the idea of buying gifts for each other, but they agreed that presents weren’t necessary after they had spent most of their money investing in their new apartment. Their new home was their present to each other, furniture that was to come and all.

Moving back to Seoul after living in Beijing for years in order to build up a trust for their then small company feels so odd for them. The two of them could reconnect with Chanyeol’s side of the family, old friends, and co-workers they haven’t seen in years. In a way, they were glad to be back home, but it also felt like they left their home. Being back in Seoul was comforting, but not like Beijing.

\--

Due to moving so soon into the holiday season, most of their friends that lived in Korea were busy with family or work. One of Chanyeol’s old friends from university responded though, saying he was more than glad to meet up with Chanyeol and Yixing. He said he’d even bring a few friends Chanyeol had met before.

They hid what little boxes they had left to unpack in their guest room so the boxes wouldn’t be in in their guests’ way when they arrived. Chanyeol and Yixing kept their new home clean and tried to make it as cozy with what they had to display.

So when Kyungsoo arrived with Jaehyun, Yuta, and Baekhyun along with food and drinks in hand, Chanyeol and Yixing were close to tears for having company. Kyungsoo even had Toben, saying he stopped by Chanyeol’s mom’s house to pick him up.

Toben jumped from Kyungsoo’s arms, running to Chanyeol and Yixing. He was jumping up and down to get their attention and when they both leaned down to pet him, he dropped to the floor to expose his belly to be pet. Chanyeol was still close to tears, happy to see his friends and his little baby Toben. He looked to Yixing who was also still teary-eyed, probably just as happy.

After setting up the food and drinks on the kitchen counter and putting food on their plates, everyone gathered in the living room. Everyone circled around the coffee table, sitting on the couch or cushions. There wasn’t a TV for background noise, so Chanyeol connected his phone to a bluetooth speaker, holiday music playing lightly to increase the Christmas spirit a little more.

There was a small conversation as they ate; everyone was having a good time as they made jokes and talked about their jobs.

“So what made you guys move back?” Jaehyun asked, curious.

Yixing looked over to Chanyeol who was already looking back at him. “Well, mostly our job. We were in Beijing building up a trust for our company and as of recent, we didn’t have to stay there anymore. After talking about it and _really_ thinking about it, we decided to move back. We missed Seoul, we missed Toben. We missed our friends and our favorite restaurants,” Yixing explained.

Chanyeol nodded. “We just wanted to return home.”

The guys also nodded, processing the information as they continued to eat and ask more questions like are Yixing and Chanyeol going to continue working for their company? Do they want their old furniture? They were telling memories from their tiny apartment in Beijing, pushing everyone close to tears with stories about the good times.  

Even though the conversation was lighter, both Chanyeol and Yixing’s hearts felt a little heavy.

\--

On Christmas, Yixing made some hot chocolate while Chanyeol played with Toben on the couch, covered in fleece blankets. Yixing joined them, snuggling close to Chanyeol as he rested his head on the younger’s shoulder. They both petted Toben, giving him their utmost attention until Yixing sighed, making Chanyeol turn to him.

“Did we do the right thing?” Yixing asked, scratching behind Toben’s ear.

Chanyeol squeezed his waist, trying to comfort him since he could tell that the older was down about something. “What do you mean?”

“Was this a good idea? Moving back?”

Chanyeol took a few seconds to answer, causing Yixing to look up at him.

“...I don’t know,” he started. “I want to hope so.”

Yixing hugged him closer, before saying, “I miss home.”

Toben fell asleep in Chanyeol’s lap, overflowing with warmth and tiny snores. Chanyeol sighed like the older did moments ago then said, “Me too.”


End file.
